Vehicle Crew
|upkeep = |prereq = |production_struc = Disembarked USF Vehicles |reinforce_cost = |health = |armor = |firing range = |infantry_type = |weapon = 4x M3 Grease Gun |speed = |num_slots = 2 |num_products = |produces = |num_abilities = 2 |abilities = ' Repair' * Restores HP to any Building, Bridge, or Vehicle * Costs nothing ' Repair Critical' * Requires Veteran 1 * Will quickly repair one critical and a small amount of damage on a Vehicle * Costs: |num_upgrades = 1 |upgrades = ' Thompson Submachine Gun' * Adds 2x Thompson SMG's * Cost nothing, automatically applied. * Requires Armor Company }} Vehicle Crews are close-range support units fielded by the USF who are unique in the fact that they are only acquired from disembarked US combat vehicles. Being capable of performing emergency repairs on their vehicles, they can trade blows more easily against the German armor. Overview Equipped with M3 Grease Guns, they are weak close-range fighters that should only fight in desperate situations as they lack strong combat capabilities. Their utility to repair and disembark also provides them with the unmatched ability to come back into the fray more easily than other factions. After some veterancy earned they are also able to repair faster and have criticals repaired with an ability, making them one of the best engineers before Royal Engineers with heavy repair kits. In other factions Vehicles earn veterancy ratings themselves, however the USF does this differently. The Vehicle Crew keeps tracks of its kills and veterancy for any vehicle they control, allowing some flexibility. Although it still has some limits as when you disembark a Veteran 3 M20 Utility Car and crew an empty M36 Jackson with it, the game will not fully transfer all 3 stars as the Jackson has a higher requirement for its full rank. This means a Veteran 3 Vehicle Crew can still technically earn more veterancy, as long as it drives around a vehicle capable of earning more. Standard Vehicle Crews are able to be disembarked from almost all USF vehicles except for WC54 Ambulance. The Ambulance disembarks a Medic while the M20 Utility Car has a M20 Vehicle Crew armed with a single Bazooka. Once a vehicle has been Disembarked, the Vehicle Crew will automatically repair any nearby vehicles and can be queued to go back inside of their original vehicle with shift command held after repairs are done. Be warned that a vehicle takes 3 seconds to disembark and will be considered abandoned until re-crewed, allowing anyone to steal it. A special side effect from disembarking is freeing up population and upkeep from the vehicle until it is re-crewed, allowing a player to go over their population cap. Abilities Repair * Restores HP to any Building, Bridge, or vehicle * Costs Nothing The Vehicle Crew will automatically repair any damaged vehicle it is close to anytime or ordered to until it is fully healed. Any critical damage will be treated when near full health. Repair Critical * Cost to activate. * Repairs one critical. * Repairs 15 health of damage. * Requires Veteran 1 The Vehicle Crew will perform a repair animation for a few seconds on target vehicle and ensures something like an engine damage to be treated immediately. Upgrades Thompson Submachine Gun * Adds 2x Thompson SMG's * Automatically applied upon required command points * Requires Armor Company With Elite Vehicle Crew Upgrades from the Armor Company doctrine at 0 Command Points, this passive allows the Vehicle crews to be equipped with Thompson's for a more deadly self defense. They also gain increased repair speed and veterancy gain rate. Veterancy History Ever since the Great War, tanks have been a major part of the modern warfare brought by the second World War and through this tankers were required to drive, command, gun, and load this complex beast. A typical Tank can usually have 5 crew members each serving important roles while some can have as little as 2 and others even over 7. The most important role of any tank is the driver, they are in charge of maneuvering and steering based on orders from their commander. Commanders search for potential targets while the gunner adjusts their sights towards it with the loader ready to rapidly reload shells. The hull gunner can then radio in the rest of their division on their situation and results. Depending on the size of the tank, the commander is usually the least demanding role to the worst being the gunner and the best being just himself as the spotter. As long as everyone works in unison following the commander's orders, they have themselves a very deadly war machine. Tanks weren't the only vehicles used by vehicle crew, transport vehicle and light reconnaissance vehicles were also common with similar roles if there was a turret. A half-track still benefits greatly from a fully crewed vehicle allowing for precise operations. Recruiting for tankers required a short height among new candidates as you needed to be able to maneuver your way around your own tank, and if the worst came, to escape. Self defense weapons among tankers were commonly issued pistols and SMG's among all countries, but the Americans may have had the most in mind with their fold-able M1A1 carbine on their stocks and retractable stock on the M3 grease guns which allowed for easy access and storage. Grenades were carried and their Machine guns could be modified for field use with kits for a more heavy duty last resort. Escaping from your own tank was a trick of its own. When your tank caught on fire with an imminent explosion, every tanker's goal should be to escape their coffin. Most tanks were easily escaped from such as the Sherman's which allowed for a spring hatch which can be easily pushed out of while T-34's had troublesome hatches for their crew-members. Because of the easily survivable Sherman, only 1 crewmen on average died for every Sherman knocked out with more reduced thanks to their wet ammo stowage introduced afterwards. Gallery Vehicle Crew.PNG|Vehicle Crew forced to fight after bailing out of their Sherman. VehicleCrewDisembarked.PNG|Disembarked Jackson with Elite Vehicle Crew equipped with 2 picked up weapons.